Players to learn NFL fate

Eugene Monroe is living large in more than one way.

Other former Virginia players will spend the weekend squirming on the edge of their respective seats.

As the NFL draft opens today at 4 p.m., the lives of numerous players that once wore a Cavalier uniform will be altered in various ways.

Monroe, of course, is projected to be the first former Virginia player selected, perhaps in a fashion that would pair the massive left tackle with a former teammate.

He could be picked No. 2 by St. Louis, matching Monroe with former All-American defensive end Chris Long.

He could also land at No. 3 with Kansas City with former guard Branden Albert, which could give the Chiefs a pair of tackles from Virginia.

Others will wait — perhaps to the bitter end — and later play phone tag with prospective franchises.

Those expecting a shorter window of wait include wideout Kevin Ogletree, tailback Cedric Peerman and outside linebacker Clint Sintim, all of which hope to be selected today during the draft’s first two rounds.

Other draft hopefuls include linebackers Antonio Appleby and Jon Copper, wide receiver Maurice Covington, safety Byron Glaspy and tight end John Phillips.

As they did during their careers, each will be watching with excitement, cheering on the others.

“Those are my guys. Those are the guys that I went to war with,” Ogletree said. “If they are doing well then I am doing well. I love seeing them succeed and that’s what we went to Virginia to do.

“We went to get our degrees, play football and build that bond. Everybody is going their separate ways now to venture their dream too and wish the best for them.”

And then there is Kevin McCabe.

Once anointed the starter at quarterback for Virginia and later snubbed by offensive coordinator Mike Groh, McCabe completed his final year of eligibility at California (Pa.) University with gaudy stats.

McCabe, like other former Cavaliers, could be in limbo during the two-day draft and may be waiting for an audition merely as a free agent.

He said he will watch with friends and family in Pennsylvania with his cell phone and agent close by.

“It is a lot of energy that is stagnant because it is out of your control,” McCabe said. “You are just waiting around on everybody else and letting them have their time.

“You just hope for the best and it doesn’t matter if it is the first round or if it is as a free agent. I am just going to be blessed that I am going to be able to play.”

If Monroe is selected in the first round, as projected, he will become the ninth Virginia player taken in the opening round in the past 11 years and the third in the past fourth since 2006.

As the draft rolls into the sixth and seventh rounds Sunday, public perception is that it is better to go undrafted.

Glaspy, once a walk-on at Virginia, sees both sides of the argument.

“I have heard that it might be better if you are chosen in the later rounds and I have heard that it might be better if you go as a free agent to go to team that has a need at your position,” Glaspy said. “But I still think that it would be exciting to hear your name called.”

McCabe added: “They always say, ‘You don’t want to be picked up in the sixth or seventh round so you have options,’ but in reality everybody wants to hear their name called on draft day.”

Ogletree, in New York with family this weekend, expects his name to be called late today or early Sunday.

It is a moment that he dreamed of long before he submitted his name for the draft, thus bailing on his final year of eligibility at the college ranks.

“I am real excited. I can’t remember being this excited in my entire life,” Ogletree said. “It is fun man. I know someone will take me and that is the best part. I know I will get a chance to live out my dream and play in the NFL, so I am happy about that.

“That is the most assuring and comforting thing, knowing that the chance that I have waited my whole life for is coming on a professional team. All this hard work is going to put me in a position where I can make something.”